The role of future work goal motives in adolescent identity development: A longitudinal mixed-methods investigation

Theories of adolescent identity development often emphasize the importance of adolescents’ future work goals, yet these theories rarely distinguish the self-oriented motives (enjoying or being a good fit for one’s work) from the beyond-the-self-oriented motives (having a positive impact on the world beyond the self) that underlie them. The present article explored the impact and development of both types of motives. Using longitudinal, mixed-methods data from middle school and high school students (N = 99), the present article found that: (1) adolescents generated both self-oriented and beyond-the-self-oriented motives for their future work goals, often simultaneously; (2) adolescents who held both self-oriented and beyond-the-self-oriented motives for their work goals were more likely to experience higher levels of purpose and meaning over a 2-year period than those who held neither; (3) school assignments that asked students to reflect on their work goals were positively related only to the development of self-oriented motives for work goals among middle school students; and (4) support from friends was positively related only to the development of self-oriented motives for work goals among high school students.     

The problem with people

An increasing number of children and young people are being excluded from school as a direct result of anger management problems. The research literature suggests that short cognitive‐behavioural intervention programmes may be effective in helping young people understand and control their anger. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a short cognitive‐behavioural anger management intervention in reducing problem behaviours in school, and to identify factors that may facilitate or impede participant progress on such a programme. The sample comprised 12 young people (mean age 14y 2m) referred for anger problems in an inner‐city school in the north‐west of England. A phase change (baseline, intervention, follow‐up) design was implemented to measure changes in problem behaviours using the Revised Rutter Scale for Teachers. This was augmented by qualitative data gathered in interviews and non‐participant observations. Significant improvements in behaviour were observed as a result of the intervention, although for some domains this was not maintained at four‐week follow‐up. Analysis of qualitative data revealed a number of issues that might impact on the success of an intervention, including notions of power in the classroom, treatment readiness, and the importance of sharing thoughts, feelings and experiences with others. Despite limitations inherent in the research design, the intervention was deemed a success. However, our findings show the need for researchers and practitioners alike to ‘look beyond the child’ when hypothesising about the causes of anger problems in educational contexts.     

Education,disordered eating and obesity discourse: fat fabrications

Our research examines the relationship among identity, age, gender and athleticism through a study of the association between sports clothing and the identity work of pre-adolescent female soccer players. Based on participant-observation and interviews conducted at three co-ed youth soccer camps, we find that age is an important element of identity, particularly as it intersects with the girls’ evolving understanding of femininity and engagement in athletics. While age can be credited with providing freedom in which clothing is deployed as a device for identity construction, its intersection with gender and athleticism also constrains girls’ clothing behavior.     

现实的呼唤：中学急需青春期性教育

青春期是中学生成长的关键时期，正是长身体的黄金时节。但是处于青春发育期的中学生，面对生理上的急剧变化，他们往往感到束手无策，从而导致心理上的不正常发展。他们渴望了解性知识，以便正确应对生理上的变化，但他们却无法通过正常的渠道来了解正确的性知识。因此，教育现实在呼唤青春期性教育走进中学课堂。     

对15～18岁高中女生形体美影响因素的研究

通过问卷调查,制定出形体美的评价标准,对15～18岁高中女生形体进行评价并运用R型因子分析研究影响形体美的因素,研究结果表明,体育氛围因素对高中女生形体美的塑造有重要的影响,其次是学校体育课因素、生活饮食因素、体育锻炼因素、遗传因素、生活习惯因素、体育价值观因素和社会压力因素。     

Small-group collaboration and individual knowledge acquisition: The processes of growth during adolescence and early adulthood

Research into small-group collaboration during middle to late childhood shows that while individual understanding can be promoted through exchanging differing opinions, the joint analyses that groups construct while collaborating play a tangential role. Individuals may or may not accept these constructions depending upon processes of reflection and reconciliation that are triggered through difference and sometimes occur post-group. Recognizing a dearth of research with older participants (together with inconclusive suggestions that collaborative constructions may become more significant with age), the reported study examines the impact of small-group collaboration during adolescence and early adulthood. Forty-six pairs of students aged between 10 and 22 years worked on a computer-presented task that required them to discuss and predict the trajectories objects follow when they fall from stationary or moving carriers. Associations between group dialogue and post-test performance confirmed a key role for differing opinions while collaborative constructions turned out to have little relevance.     

Experiences of psychological and physical aggression in adolescent romantic relationships: Links to psychological distress

ObjectiveThis research examined links between adolescents’ experiences of psychological and physical relationship aggression and their psychological distress. Experiences of psychological and physical aggression were expected to correlate positively with symptoms of psychological distress, but experiences of psychological aggression were expected to partially account for the association between experiences of physical aggression and psychological distress. In addition, psychological aggression was hypothesized to be perceived as more unpleasant and less playful than physical aggression.MethodParticipants were 125 high school students. Relationship aggression was assessed over an 8-week period using two methods: (1) a retrospective method based on a single assessment at the end of the 8-week period, and (2) a cumulative method based on multiple assessments conducted during the 8-week period. Adolescents’ appraisals of the aggression were also measured, as were their reports of symptoms of psychological distress.ResultsAdolescents’ experiences of psychological and physical relationship aggression correlated positively, but inconsistently, with their symptoms of psychological distress. In analyses considering both forms of aggression simultaneously, psychological aggression was related to adolescents’ distress, but physical aggression was not. This finding emerged across both methods of assessing for relationship aggression. Psychological aggression was more likely than physical aggression to be rated as unpleasant, and less likely to be attributed to the partner “playing around.”ConclusionsThe study of adolescent relationship aggression will benefit by expanding the focus of aggression to include psychological aggression as well as physical aggression, and by examining adolescents’ appraisals of the aggression they experience.Practice implicationsThe findings highlight the importance of a broad view of aggression in adolescent relationships. Psychological aggression appears to be at least as important to adolescent well-being as physical aggression in dating relationships. In addition, it may be useful to consider how adolescents’ interpret the intent of the aggression that they experience.     

目前青少年成长发展的基本特征与评价

通过对全国7个省市青少年成长发展状况的调查分析,发现在改革开放条件下青少年成长发展具有六个特征：认同主流价值观;人生目标趋于功利化和多元化;有着较高的道德追求;人际关系和谐,区域差异明显;科技素养有待提高;消费观念理性,虽然当代青少年成长发展中存在一些消极的方面,但主流是好的,是充满希望,值得信赖的一代。     

Development of Reading and Mathematics Skills in Early Adolescence: Do K-8 Public Schools Make a Difference?

Abstract

Educators and policymakers are paying increased attention to the academic outcomes of students in the middle grades (i.e., Grades 6–8). One reform proposed to improve outcomes for these students is to replace middle schools (with Grade 6–8, 7–8, or 7–9 configurations) with K-8 schools. This longitudinal study evaluated the effects of continuously attending a K-8 school, rather than transitioning from an elementary school to a middle school, on Grade 8 reading and mathematics achievement. Drawing on nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten 1998 cohort (N = 8,237), the study used propensity score stratification to control for observable selection bias. Findings indicated that K-8 schools produce small, significant effects for reading (effect size = 0.15 or approximately 6–8 months of schooling), but nonsignificant effects for mathematics. Results were robust to several alternative specifications, including accounting for nesting of children within schools and using different approaches for propensity score matching. Findings provide conditional support for K-8 schools, highlight the need for cost-effectiveness research on this topic, and raise questions about the specific mechanisms for K-8 schools’ advantages.